Jonathan Taft, c. 1902. Taft was the first dean of the School of Dentistry.

The first dean of the School of Dentistry was Dr. Jonathan Taft, who was dean from the school's founding in 1875 until his retirement in 1903. Taft developed the four-year model of dental education, which later became standard in American dental schools.[7]

The School of Dentistry was established as the College of Dental Surgery by the University of Michigan Board of Regents, following an appropriation by the Michigan Legislature of $3,000 for that purpose.[1][2] The school's first class consisted of 20 students taught by three faculty members. The first women graduated from the school in 1880. In 1980, the school became the first dental school to provide graduate dental education.[2]

In 1910, Russell W. Bunting, later dean of the school, began his research into the causes and prevention of dental caries (cavities).[2] In 1921, the school established its dental hygiene program and conferred its first Master of Science degree, and the following year, the school became the first to offer graduate-degree training in orthodontics.[2] In 1927, the school adopted its current name.[2]

In 1938, the school and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation began to develop plans for a new, purpose-built dental school building. Construction of the Kellogg Building began the following year.[2]

In 1938, the School of Dentistry developed the first graduate program in dental public health in the United States under the leadership of Professor Kenneth A. Easlick.[2] In 1945, the School worked with city officials in Grand Rapids, Michigan to establish a water fluoridation program, one of the first in the United States.[2]

In 1957, plans for a new dental building attached to the Kellogg Building were released.[2] Construction began in 1966 on the project; at the time, the building contract of $17.3 million was the largest in university history.[2] The new building on North University Avenue was dedicated in 1971.[2]

In 1965, researchers from the School of Dentistry made their first trip to Egypt to study the orthodontics of ancient Egypt and Nubia. In 1976, researchers from the school discovered the 3,000-year-old mummy of Tiye, a Great Royal Wife to the Egyptian pharaohAmenhotep III; the mummy's identity was confirmed by tests at the School of Dentistry.[2]

In 1998, renovations to the Kellogg Building began. On 1999, the school awarded its first two doctoral degrees in oral health sciences. In 2000, the school became the first in the nation to host the "Scientific Frontiers in Clinical Dentistry" program, with more than 1,500 dentists from across the country attending. The same year, the school announced five new community partnerships to provide oral health care services to the underserved across Michigan.[2]

In 2008, following a 13-day trial in Detroit, a federal jury awarded a former School of Dentistry student, Alissa Zwick, $1.72 million in damages from the university, agreeing that Zwick had been expelled from the Dental School without cause in 2005, in violation of her rights to due process. The court also ordered the university to pay Zwick $320,990 in legal fees. While the university's appeal was pending, Zwick and the university agreed to a $1 million out-of-court settlement.[8]